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Bright Young Things

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OPENS OCTOBER 3, CERT 15, 104 MINS Set in a brilliantly vacuous world of cocaine-sniffing 'celebrities' sustained by a media that subsists on junk gossip, the contemporary relevance of writer/director Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things hits you squarely on the head like a carelessly-tossed champagne bottle. Based on Waugh's second novel, Fry's directorial debut follows a gaggle of idle rich gadabouts with a predilection for fast jazz, gramophone records and "naughty salt". At the centre of the whirl is writer Adam (Stephen Campbell Moore), a vapid cipher like all Waugh's main characters, haplessly trying to raise enough money to marry Nina (Emily Mortimer). Self-destruction and self-examination follow all this licentious hedonism but Fry handles the gear-shifts ably, while his ear for Waugh's brilliant dialogue is impeccable. Cameos from Simon Callow, Peter O'Toole and Dan Aykroyd (as a US newspaper mogul contemptuous of the chinless lackeys he employs) help make for a film that is at times fabulously funny and entertaining.

OPENS OCTOBER 3, CERT 15, 104 MINS

Set in a brilliantly vacuous world of cocaine-sniffing ‘celebrities’ sustained by a media that subsists on junk gossip, the contemporary relevance of writer/director Stephen Fry’s Bright Young Things hits you squarely on the head like a carelessly-tossed champagne bottle.

Based on Waugh’s second novel, Fry’s directorial debut follows a gaggle of idle rich gadabouts with a predilection for fast jazz, gramophone records and “naughty salt”. At the centre of the whirl is writer Adam (Stephen Campbell Moore), a vapid cipher like all Waugh’s main characters, haplessly trying to raise enough money to marry Nina (Emily Mortimer).

Self-destruction and self-examination follow all this licentious hedonism but Fry handles the gear-shifts ably, while his ear for Waugh’s brilliant dialogue is impeccable. Cameos from Simon Callow, Peter O’Toole and Dan Aykroyd (as a US newspaper mogul contemptuous of the chinless lackeys he employs) help make for a film that is at times fabulously funny and entertaining.

The Cremaster Cycle

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OPENS OCTOBER 17, CERT TBC, VARIOUS MINS Boldly straddling the chasm between obscure gallery installation and provocative arthouse epic, The Cremaster Cycle, made by Bj...

OPENS OCTOBER 17, CERT TBC, VARIOUS MINS

Boldly straddling the chasm between obscure gallery installation and provocative arthouse epic, The Cremaster Cycle, made by Bj

Time Of The Wolf

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OPENS OCTOBER 17, CERT 15, 113 MINS Austrian auteur Michael Haneke is known for broaching taboos and shattering barriers, but the only thing this indulgent bore will demolish is your patience. In successes like Funny Games and The Piano Teacher (Isabelle Huppert again stars here), he juggled narrat...

OPENS OCTOBER 17, CERT 15, 113 MINS

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke is known for broaching taboos and shattering barriers, but the only thing this indulgent bore will demolish is your patience. In successes like Funny Games and The Piano Teacher (Isabelle Huppert again stars here), he juggled narrative conventions, forcing us to question our tastes for cinematic sex and violence. Here he drowns us in his ‘visionary’ ego and asks if we can stay awake.

The premise is fascinating, the execution flat. The apocalypse has happened, and people scrap in the dark for food. Wanton violence abounds: in a startling opening, Huppert’s husband is killed by strangers. From then on, she struggles to protect her kids, looking for shelter and safety. The film’s shot in near darkness; you’re literally straining to see what’s going on. Not much is.

When she meets other survivors (B

Cuban Reels

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DIRECTED BY Oliver Stone STARRING Fidel Castro, Oliver Stone Opens October 10, Cert 15, 99 mins Perhaps it was inevitable that Oliver Stone would one day make a movie about Fidel Castro. The turbulence of 1960s America has been Stone's great theme, and America's obsession with the tiny communist state floating in its backyard is one of the key motifs of that era; Fidel himself has been a recurring phantom presence in Stone's work since his script for Scarface, and practically plays cameos in Salvador, Nixon, and, particularly, JFK. Stone's documentary, filmed with extraordinary access to Castro over three days in Havana in 2002, is his most controversial film since his dazzling dissection of the Kennedy assassination, and for similar reasons. Stone once said that, whether or not JFK uncovered 'the truth', he hoped it would come to be seen as an alternative myth to the official version presented by the Warren Commission. His portrait of Castro has been criticised as soft and one-sided, and it's true Stone is content to let Castro off surprisingly lightly over issues such as Cuba's civil rights record. But, at the very least, his film is of tremendous importance in directly challenging the caricature of Bearded Commie Monster propagated by the American establishment. For here, in this astonishingly intimate film?less documentary than document, recording a long, relaxed, frequently funny conversation between film-maker and subject?we have Castro as a man, a human being. The cameras seem captivated by the 76-year-old's soulful eyes, sculpted face and extraordinary poet's hands (not to mention iconic green battle fatigues and unexpected Nike trainers). Castro waxes lyrical on the revolution, Cuba's ongoing social experiment, and what will become of it after he is gone, as well as such disparate subjects as shaving, Viagra, guns, women and age. He even expresses his regret at never having seen Titanic on the big screen. With post-9/11 America entering a period Norman Mailer described as "pre-fascist", this flawed but fascinating work reasserts Stone's importance as Hollywood's most tenacious iconoclast. Paradoxically, however, the clearest indication of how valuable his film is might be that, at the time of writing, Comandante?originally commissioned by the HBO channel to be broadcast in May?has yet to be screened in the States.

DIRECTED BY Oliver Stone

STARRING Fidel Castro, Oliver Stone

Opens October 10, Cert 15, 99 mins

Perhaps it was inevitable that Oliver Stone would one day make a movie about Fidel Castro. The turbulence of 1960s America has been Stone’s great theme, and America’s obsession with the tiny communist state floating in its backyard is one of the key motifs of that era; Fidel himself has been a recurring phantom presence in Stone’s work since his script for Scarface, and practically plays cameos in Salvador, Nixon, and, particularly, JFK.

Stone’s documentary, filmed with extraordinary access to Castro over three days in Havana in 2002, is his most controversial film since his dazzling dissection of the Kennedy assassination, and for similar reasons. Stone once said that, whether or not JFK uncovered ‘the truth’, he hoped it would come to be seen as an alternative myth to the official version presented by the Warren Commission. His portrait of Castro has been criticised as soft and one-sided, and it’s true Stone is content to let Castro off surprisingly lightly over issues such as Cuba’s civil rights record. But, at the very least, his film is of tremendous importance in directly challenging the caricature of Bearded Commie Monster propagated by the American establishment.

For here, in this astonishingly intimate film?less documentary than document, recording a long, relaxed, frequently funny conversation between film-maker and subject?we have Castro as a man, a human being. The cameras seem captivated by the 76-year-old’s soulful eyes, sculpted face and extraordinary poet’s hands (not to mention iconic green battle fatigues and unexpected Nike trainers). Castro waxes lyrical on the revolution, Cuba’s ongoing social experiment, and what will become of it after he is gone, as well as such disparate subjects as shaving, Viagra, guns, women and age. He even expresses his regret at never having seen Titanic on the big screen.

With post-9/11 America entering a period Norman Mailer described as “pre-fascist”, this flawed but fascinating work reasserts Stone’s importance as Hollywood’s most tenacious iconoclast. Paradoxically, however, the clearest indication of how valuable his film is might be that, at the time of writing, Comandante?originally commissioned by the HBO channel to be broadcast in May?has yet to be screened in the States.

Current Restored

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DIRECTED BY Clint Eastwood STARRING Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon Opens October 17, Cert 15, 137 mins Following some unconvincing recent outings as a director, Clint returns to form in a major way with this intelligent, probing adaptation of Dennis Lehane's formidable crime novel. Over three decades behind the camera have honed Eastwood's skills to what must be as close to perfection as one can get; here, that experience combines with strong source material to give us his finest work since the powerful one-two punch of 1992's Unforgiven and 1993's A Perfect World. In fact, the brooding tone and moral ambiguity of those films mark them as close companions to Mystic River, which runs deep with past sins, violence, revenge, regret and destiny. The story grabs you straight away. Three young friends?Jimmy, Dave and Sean?are playing hockey in the street when two men posing as plain-clothes cops pull up, give the boys a talking-to and take Dave away. What happens to him after he gets into their car has a bearing on events some 30 years later, long after the boys have grown up and?despite still living in the same Boston neighbourhood?grown apart. Dave (Robbins) is one of the walking wounded after his abduction; Jimmy (Penn) is a liquor-store owner with criminal connections; and Sean (Bacon) is now a detective. The three men are reunited by another tragedy, the murder of Jimmy's daughter (Emmy Rossum)?for which Dave becomes the prime suspect. Mystic River feels like a gathering storm. You sense something devastating brewing from the off, the atmosphere growing increasingly charged as Dave, Jimmy and Sean are forced to confront each other and their individual and shared pasts. Eastwood's style is as lean and elegant as ever; he doesn't need to trick the viewer into staying hooked but he knows how to make each scene and performance count (which really means something when your cast also includes Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney). It's rare with a mainstream studio film to feel that you're watching complex, credible people?but that's what Eastwood and his actors have achieved, and it's what makes this film uniquely thrilling.

DIRECTED BY Clint Eastwood

STARRING Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon

Opens October 17, Cert 15, 137 mins

Following some unconvincing recent outings as a director, Clint returns to form in a major way with this intelligent, probing adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s formidable crime novel. Over three decades behind the camera have honed Eastwood’s skills to what must be as close to perfection as one can get; here, that experience combines with strong source material to give us his finest work since the powerful one-two punch of 1992’s Unforgiven and 1993’s A Perfect World. In fact, the brooding tone and moral ambiguity of those films mark them as close companions to Mystic River, which runs deep with past sins, violence, revenge, regret and destiny.

The story grabs you straight away. Three young friends?Jimmy, Dave and Sean?are playing hockey in the street when two men posing as plain-clothes cops pull up, give the boys a talking-to and take Dave away. What happens to him after he gets into their car has a bearing on events some 30 years later, long after the boys have grown up and?despite still living in the same Boston neighbourhood?grown apart. Dave (Robbins) is one of the walking wounded after his abduction; Jimmy (Penn) is a liquor-store owner with criminal connections; and Sean (Bacon) is now a detective. The three men are reunited by another tragedy, the murder of Jimmy’s daughter (Emmy Rossum)?for which Dave becomes the prime suspect.

Mystic River feels like a gathering storm. You sense something devastating brewing from the off, the atmosphere growing increasingly charged as Dave, Jimmy and Sean are forced to confront each other and their individual and shared pasts. Eastwood’s style is as lean and elegant as ever; he doesn’t need to trick the viewer into staying hooked but he knows how to make each scene and performance count (which really means something when your cast also includes Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney). It’s rare with a mainstream studio film to feel that you’re watching complex, credible people?but that’s what Eastwood and his actors have achieved, and it’s what makes this film uniquely thrilling.

House Of 1000 Corpses

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OPENS OCTOBER 3, CERT 18, 88 MINS From Sabbath to Slayer, metallers have always loved horror, but Rob Zombie takes the obsession further than most. Having named his band White Zombie after a 1932 Bela Lugosi flick, he's moved into directing with a film that's part Texas Chainsaw Massacre, part From Dusk Till Dawn and part B-movie medley. The surprise is, it's very nearly a classic. Nearly, but not quite. Four teens stop at a roadside funfair where the creepy owner tells them about a mythical serial killer. They go looking (at night, in a storm) for the site of the killer's grave, but break down and fall hostage to a family of sadistic rednecks. What starts off cool changes tone every 20 minutes, becoming first camp, then scary, then insanely OTT as Zombie throws killer clowns, burlesque, circus freaks, vivisection and (perhaps inevitably) zombies into the increasingly mind-boggling mix. Blending different horror genres like this is surprisingly effective, and there are flashes of real genius, but it finally falls apart in a tangle of unresolved arcs and last-minute subplots. Not bad for a metaller, though. Roll on AC/DC's opera.

OPENS OCTOBER 3, CERT 18, 88 MINS

From Sabbath to Slayer, metallers have always loved horror, but Rob Zombie takes the obsession further than most. Having named his band White Zombie after a 1932 Bela Lugosi flick, he’s moved into directing with a film that’s part Texas Chainsaw Massacre, part From Dusk Till Dawn and part B-movie medley. The surprise is, it’s very nearly a classic. Nearly, but not quite.

Four teens stop at a roadside funfair where the creepy owner tells them about a mythical serial killer. They go looking (at night, in a storm) for the site of the killer’s grave, but break down and fall hostage to a family of sadistic rednecks. What starts off cool changes tone every 20 minutes, becoming first camp, then scary, then insanely OTT as Zombie throws killer clowns, burlesque, circus freaks, vivisection and (perhaps inevitably) zombies into the increasingly mind-boggling mix. Blending different horror genres like this is surprisingly effective, and there are flashes of real genius, but it finally falls apart in a tangle of unresolved arcs and last-minute subplots. Not bad for a metaller, though. Roll on AC/DC’s opera.

Holes

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OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT PG, 117 MINS The Fugitive director Andrew Davis does a superb job bringing to life Louis Sachar's wry, sprightly (whisper it) children's book about the palindromic Stanley Yelnats. Unjustly sent to Camp Greenlake?a remote detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Texas?Sta...

OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT PG, 117 MINS

The Fugitive director Andrew Davis does a superb job bringing to life Louis Sachar’s wry, sprightly (whisper it) children’s book about the palindromic Stanley Yelnats. Unjustly sent to Camp Greenlake?a remote detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Texas?Stanley literally unearths a mystery with a connection to his family’s past.

Davis neither patronises nor preaches, rising to the fierce moral subtext in Sachar’s novel and tackling an inter-racial love affair with respect for his audiences’ intelligence. He’s helped by a major league cast?Sigourney Weaver as the rattlesnake-tough warden, Jon Voight hilarious as her bequiffed number two, Tim Blake Nelson riffing on his O Brother, Where Art Thou? character, and, in pivotal 19th-century flashbacks, Patricia Arquette and The West Wing’s Dul

Interstella 5555: The 5tory Of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

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OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT U, 67 MINS Scooby Doo, you've gone all blue. And trippy, Daft Punk, the French techno-pop duo who've consistently worked with cutting-edge directors (Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola), have collaborated with their lifelong Manga animation heroes Leiji Matsumoto and Kazuhisa Takenouchi to produce this 'musical', loosely accompanying their 2001 album Discovery. It's fun, and sweet rather than radical. If you're a Manga buff you'll enjoy the quaint sci-fi plotline and imagery, and stare at the female bassist's lovingly-drawn arse. A band of cobalt-coloured aliens from a happy-clappy galaxy where they play "One More Time" seven zillion times is kidnapped by stormtroopers from nasty Earth. Here, they're made over into pop puppets who are globally marketed with military precision, only to end up wreaking revenge on the Pete Waterman evil-doers. The Smurfs on ecstasy.

OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT U, 67 MINS

Scooby Doo, you’ve gone all blue. And trippy, Daft Punk, the French techno-pop duo who’ve consistently worked with cutting-edge directors (Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola), have collaborated with their lifelong Manga animation heroes Leiji Matsumoto and Kazuhisa Takenouchi to produce this ‘musical’, loosely accompanying their 2001 album Discovery. It’s fun, and sweet rather than radical. If you’re a Manga buff you’ll enjoy the quaint sci-fi plotline and imagery, and stare at the female bassist’s lovingly-drawn arse. A band of cobalt-coloured aliens from a happy-clappy galaxy where they play “One More Time” seven zillion times is kidnapped by stormtroopers from nasty Earth. Here, they’re made over into pop puppets who are globally marketed with military precision, only to end up wreaking revenge on the Pete Waterman evil-doers. The Smurfs on ecstasy.

Down With Love

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OPENS OCTOBER 3, CERT 12A, 102 MINS Potentially a vibrant bit of fun, this knowing retro-romp is hindered by one millstone: Ewan McGregor (here starring, in a chemistry-free zone, opposite Ren...

OPENS OCTOBER 3, CERT 12A, 102 MINS

Potentially a vibrant bit of fun, this knowing retro-romp is hindered by one millstone: Ewan McGregor (here starring, in a chemistry-free zone, opposite Ren

Seabiscuit

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OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT PG, 141 MINS Seabiscuit was the little horse that could?a pop culture phenomenon in Depression-era America who won the 1937 Santa Anita Handicap against all odds and beguiled an ailing nation. Written off in his early years as a grumpy, awkward loser, Seabiscuit was trained for victory by three broken men: too-tall jockey Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), tragic millionaire Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) and washed-up cowboy Tom Smith (Chris Cooper). Pleasantville director Gary Ross' self-penned script focuses on this maverick trio and how they came to find redemption through their unlikely partnership. OK, it's not just a horse flick?some of Seabiscuit's most resonant moments occur in the first half-hour as Ross details the rise of mass entertainment culture in '30s America. This may sound like a recipe for the worst kind of mawkish US myth-building but Ross avoids the pitfalls and, with the aid of a killer trio of lead performances, delivers the finest racetrack movie since Frank Capra's Broadway Bill.

OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT PG, 141 MINS

Seabiscuit was the little horse that could?a pop culture phenomenon in Depression-era America who won the 1937 Santa Anita Handicap against all odds and beguiled an ailing nation.

Written off in his early years as a grumpy, awkward loser, Seabiscuit was trained for victory by three broken men: too-tall jockey Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), tragic millionaire Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges) and washed-up cowboy Tom Smith (Chris Cooper). Pleasantville director Gary Ross’ self-penned script focuses on this maverick trio and how they came to find redemption through their unlikely partnership.

OK, it’s not just a horse flick?some of Seabiscuit’s most resonant moments occur in the first half-hour as Ross details the rise of mass entertainment culture in ’30s America. This may sound like a recipe for the worst kind of mawkish US myth-building but Ross avoids the pitfalls and, with the aid of a killer trio of lead performances, delivers the finest racetrack movie since Frank Capra’s Broadway Bill.

Brothers Grim

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Arguably the Coen brothers' most purely cinematic outing, this loving homage to the golden age of Warner Bros gangster movies is a fascinating box of tricks filled with bravura action sequences, unexpected twists and off-kilter dialogue. Gabriel Byrne plays Tom Reagan, advisor to Albert Finney's Prohibition-era crime boss Leo and a man who is trying to keep the peace between warring factions, without much success. As with every Coen movie, the script is beautifully assembled but of secondary importance to the whirlwind of genre-tweaking scenes assembled by the brothers. Standout moments are Leo rousting his midnight attackers armed with just a Thompson, cigar and silk bathrobe, and Reagan's torture at the hands of a pair of violent (but polite and respectful) hitmen. In a movie stacked to the gills with great performances, three in particular stand out: Jon Turturro's freakishly howling turn as the alternately pathetic, smug and unpleasant Bernie Bernbaum, Albert Finney's last great role to date as the indestructible Leo and Byrne's dark, complex performance as the troubled Reagan, who must set aside his inherent rationality in order to come to terms with his own ruthlessness. Some rumpus.

Arguably the Coen brothers’ most purely cinematic outing, this loving homage to the golden age of Warner Bros gangster movies is a fascinating box of tricks filled with bravura action sequences, unexpected twists and off-kilter dialogue.

Gabriel Byrne plays Tom Reagan, advisor to Albert Finney’s Prohibition-era crime boss Leo and a man who is trying to keep the peace between warring factions, without much success. As with every Coen movie, the script is beautifully assembled but of secondary importance to the whirlwind of genre-tweaking scenes assembled by the brothers. Standout moments are Leo rousting his midnight attackers armed with just a Thompson, cigar and silk bathrobe, and Reagan’s torture at the hands of a pair of violent (but polite and respectful) hitmen.

In a movie stacked to the gills with great performances, three in particular stand out: Jon Turturro’s freakishly howling turn as the alternately pathetic, smug and unpleasant Bernie Bernbaum, Albert Finney’s last great role to date as the indestructible Leo and Byrne’s dark, complex performance as the troubled Reagan, who must set aside his inherent rationality in order to come to terms with his own ruthlessness. Some rumpus.

Barbershop

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Amiable shoot-the-shit comedy from hangdog actor/producer Ice Cube, Barbershop reveals a hint of drama (sinister gangster Keith David has designs on the shop), but is really a sitcommy chatabout between neighbourhood eccentrics. Topics range from slavery reparations to "the difference between a woman with a big ass and a big-assed woman!"

Amiable shoot-the-shit comedy from hangdog actor/producer Ice Cube, Barbershop reveals a hint of drama (sinister gangster Keith David has designs on the shop), but is really a sitcommy chatabout between neighbourhood eccentrics. Topics range from slavery reparations to “the difference between a woman with a big ass and a big-assed woman!”

The Complete Chaplin Box Set

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Chaplin's work is a strange blend of clinical perfectionism and cloying sentimentality, and though there's no denying that his timing is impeccable and his constant quest for innovation is impressive, whether you find him funny or not is another matter. This box contains all 10 of his feature films, plus a lengthy new documentary.

Chaplin’s work is a strange blend of clinical perfectionism and cloying sentimentality, and though there’s no denying that his timing is impeccable and his constant quest for innovation is impressive, whether you find him funny or not is another matter. This box contains all 10 of his feature films, plus a lengthy new documentary.

The Good Thief

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Patchy, visually flashy remake by Neil Jordan of his favourite film, Melville's classic Bob Le Flambeur. Its art-robbery-scam story's all over the place, in truth, but Nick Nolte proves to be a wildly compelling force of nature as he kicks heroin, woos a young girl and beats casinos at their own game, all the while looking like he hasn't slept for a very taxing fortnight.

Patchy, visually flashy remake by Neil Jordan of his favourite film, Melville’s classic Bob Le Flambeur. Its art-robbery-scam story’s all over the place, in truth, but Nick Nolte proves to be a wildly compelling force of nature as he kicks heroin, woos a young girl and beats casinos at their own game, all the while looking like he hasn’t slept for a very taxing fortnight.

Trapped

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Insane collision of thriller and farce, with a kidnapping plot played at volume 11 and cast by a person on amyl. Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love are the bad couple, Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend the goodies. Charlize attacks Kev with a scalpel hidden down her knickers, but is still less raving bonkers than Courtney. Gloriously dreadful.

Insane collision of thriller and farce, with a kidnapping plot played at volume 11 and cast by a person on amyl. Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love are the bad couple, Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend the goodies. Charlize attacks Kev with a scalpel hidden down her knickers, but is still less raving bonkers than Courtney. Gloriously dreadful.

Once Upon A Time In The Midlands

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With untenable Leone motifs and broad comedy caricatures, this final part of Shane Meadows' "Midlands Trilogy" (after Twenty-Four Seven and A Room For Romeo Brass) is a disappointment. Robert Carlyle is solid as the Glaswegian rogue determined to win back ex-partner Shirley Henderson. Yet, despite a re-shot 'dramatic' ending, it feels slight.

With untenable Leone motifs and broad comedy caricatures, this final part of Shane Meadows’ “Midlands Trilogy” (after Twenty-Four Seven and A Room For Romeo Brass) is a disappointment. Robert Carlyle is solid as the Glaswegian rogue determined to win back ex-partner Shirley Henderson. Yet, despite a re-shot ‘dramatic’ ending, it feels slight.

The Abominable Dr Phibes

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Bizarre variation on The Phantom Of The Opera, with Vincent Price as a deformed musician seeking revenge on the doctors who accidentally killed his wife, and achieving it by murdering them in a spectacularly imaginative series of set-pieces. A truly mixed supporting cast (Joseph Cotton, Terry-Thomas) and a memorably stylish approach, with Price on monstrously hammy form.

Bizarre variation on The Phantom Of The Opera, with Vincent Price as a deformed musician seeking revenge on the doctors who accidentally killed his wife, and achieving it by murdering them in a spectacularly imaginative series of set-pieces. A truly mixed supporting cast (Joseph Cotton, Terry-Thomas) and a memorably stylish approach, with Price on monstrously hammy form.

Shiri

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Utterly demented female assassin action from Korea's Je-gyu Kang, who comes across as the bastard son of John Woo and Luc Besson (without the flair of either). Kang chucks in a load of contemporary political context, which is interesting, but falls victim to the current vogue for assembling your final cut half an hour too long. Enjoyable but overlong and confusing.

Utterly demented female assassin action from Korea’s Je-gyu Kang, who comes across as the bastard son of John Woo and Luc Besson (without the flair of either). Kang chucks in a load of contemporary political context, which is interesting, but falls victim to the current vogue for assembling your final cut half an hour too long. Enjoyable but overlong and confusing.

Open Hearts

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A Dogme film in danger of giving a tiring genre a good name, Susanne Bier's love tragedy is deeply involving and intensely moving. When a woman's lover is paralysed in a car accident, she falls in love with his married doctor. Not once in its two hours does the film hit a dishonest note, there's subtle humour, and the acting's exemplary. You'll be tenderised.

A Dogme film in danger of giving a tiring genre a good name, Susanne Bier’s love tragedy is deeply involving and intensely moving. When a woman’s lover is paralysed in a car accident, she falls in love with his married doctor. Not once in its two hours does the film hit a dishonest note, there’s subtle humour, and the acting’s exemplary. You’ll be tenderised.

Nickelodeon

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This respectful ode to the early days of the US movie industry was the third consecutive box-office flop for Peter Bogdanovich, and the movie that put an end to his w...

This respectful ode to the early days of the US movie industry was the third consecutive box-office flop for Peter Bogdanovich, and the movie that put an end to his w

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